~~~The Lightning Lucian Bute Battleship~~~

After Dorin, Bute looks to be next Romanian-Canadian world champ

Thu Oct 18, 6:10 PM

By Bill Beacon, The Canadian Press

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MONTREAL - Should he beat Alejandro Berrio for the International Boxing Federation super-middleweight title, Lucian Bute will become the second Romanian boxer to reach his dream in Canada.

The first was Leonard Dorin, who won the WBA lightweight belt in 2004 while fighting for Montreal promoter InterBox. Bute (20-0 with 16 knockouts), based in Montreal since 2003, will try to match that Friday night at the Bell Centre against the brawling Berrio (26-4, 25 KOs), a Colombian who will make his first title defence.

Both fighters made the 168-pound limit at the weigh-in, with Bute at 167 pounds and Berrio at 167.8.

"They've got a good system in Romania and they're used to working hard," said Stephan Larouche, who trained Dorin and now trains Bute. "Most of the time, they're poor kids in Romania and their only way out is to make the national (amateur) team.

"And after they saw Dorin succeed here, they thought, maybe that place is good for us."
There has been a stream of top Romanian amateurs coming to Canada to turn pro since Dorin was first recruited by former InterBox boss Yvon Michel, who now runs the rival GYM fight promotion company.

The co-feature Friday night has super-lightweight and Bucharest native Jo Jo Dan (18-0, 9 KOs) making a first bid for a continental title against American Paul Delgado (19-7-1, 4 KOs) for the NABA belt.

On the undercard, another Romanian, welterweight Victor Lupo (16-0, 8 KOs), will shake off some ring rust against Stephane Savage (2-17-4, 1 KO) of Longueuil, Que., in a four-rounder.
The fights are to be broadcast live in French in Canada, but also will be shown live on Romanian television.

"It's my first time, first title fight and my family will see it on TV," said Dan, who first came to Canada to work with Toronto trainer Adrian Teodorescu, but moved two years ago to Montreal where the fight scene is busier.

"Dorin opened the door for us. When I came to Canada, the first three or four months were bad but I got used to it and it's OK. Now I feel at home."

Still another Romanian-Canadian, Adrian Diaconu, was to have fought American Chad Dawson for the WBA light-heavyweight title last month, but broke his right hand in training the week of the match.
Diaconu, whose hand is recovering, hopes his No. 1 ranking and status as mandatory challenger will be upheld at WBA meetings Nov. 10 and he will get another title shot in the new year.
"That's life," he said. "My time will come soon."
The 27-year-old Bute leads a spartan life in a small apartment near the InterBox gym. Larouche says he has to hold him back or he would train non-stop.

And the left-handed Bute's skill has been evident since his first pro fight, a third-round TKO of Robert Muhammad in Montreal on Nov. 11, 2003.

He plowed through his first 15 opponents, but has used patience and skill to win 12-round decisions in four of his last five, including his victory in June over Sakio Bika of Australia that gave him the No. 1 ranking and made him mandatory challenger in the IBF.

Using fast hands to stun opponents with a variety of combinations, he has been made the favourite to take the title from Berrio, who battered German Robert Stieglitz in three rounds for the belt in March.

Berrio hits hard and likely will go for the early knockout, while Bute will use his conditioning and speed to keep his distance and try to win each round.

"He's a champion and he has 25 KOs, so he hits hard," said Bute. "So it's very important to follow my game plan and use my speed and fight like a champion."

One of Berrio's conditions for taking the fight was that they use Reyes gloves, the preferred weapon of punchers because they have less padding than other brands. Bute, who has had hand injuries in the past, prefers more padding.

Larouche said he will wrap Bute's hands in the maximum allowed amount of gauze and tape and "that'll be no problem at all. It will be like a street fight."

Should he win, Bute will be the third world champion for InterBox, after Dorin and former WBC super-middleweight champ Eric Lucas of Montreal, who is now president of the company.
The nearly 10-year-old firm has thrived on a mix of local and Romanian fighters.

"In Romania, we have a good boxing school," said Dan. "I had about 250 amateur fights and that experience helps me a lot here in professional.

"But it's better here for professionals than in Romania. North America, everyone knows, is the mother of professional boxing."

Dorin got his Canadian citizenship but returned to Romania after his pro career - which ended with a second-round knockout by Montreal native Arturo Gatti in 2004 - to become a coach on the national team.

The others are also going through the citizenship process.

Bute and Diaconu fight under their real names, but the others adopted ring names. Dorin's real name is Doroftei, Lupo's family name is Puiu and Dan's name is Ionut Dan Ion. "It's because people here have difficulty pronouncing our names," said Dan. "If I say my name, Ionut, people think I'm saying 'you nut.'

 

:happy:happy:happy:happy:happy

This battleship is not sinking!

All hail the new champion!

 

Thank you Decebal for telling all ESB about live feed on canada TV so we could all watch it :good :good :good :good :good